Heading into 2010, Roman style

Not, like, fighting lions, but I was there. So. Technically that's Roman.

I took off the afternoon of the 31st for Roma on a 4hour train with one stopover in Falconara. This trip was about double the time a normal train takes for about half the price. Score.
I was, in fact, alone, because Valentina had to finish her essay and wouldn't have had enough time if she had come. Which was ok, because I would be meeting up with Kira and Jenny in a few hours time, anyways, and speaking multitudes of English and gossiping about Canadian folks they have no idea of. (Good gossip, of course.)

And before I hopped on the bus in Urbino that would take me to the train in Pesaro that would take me to another train in Falconara that would take me to a train in Rome, I had some time to spare, so I was window shopping, which turned into real shopping when I found an epic sale on a little black dress. Perfect for New Years! I was pretty stoked. Plus, I don't know if I've ever had a little black dress. Now I do.

I arrived at the Termini station, took off to my hostel with the metro, put on my little black dress, said Ciao to my bunkmates, and took off back to the metro to the Termini station to meet Kira around 8. Turns out we had different ideas about which entrance was the entrance we were meeting at, but we eventually found each other. This was my basic reaction:

First, hugs.
Second, I thought, "Holy crap a Canadian!"
Third, I thought, "Oh man, it's Kira! This is awesome!"
Fourth, I said all of this things and much more. This was the first time in 3 months that I have spoken with a Canadian face to face. And for that matter a Native English speaker since leaving Rome the first time. I discount Graham because I have no idea what he's ever saying with his real English accent. Anyways, it was really great, but I held back the tears in order to save room for talking. Which is what we did as we headed down the rain drenched streets of Rome, looking for a New Years Eve Dinner.

And we found one! This is when I realised it was my first time really hitting up an Italian resteraunt. I mean, I've had food at the bars and cafes, but not in a resteraunt. And this was the perfect one. We asked for a table and he took us to the back room, where it was quiet. The front was full of people, and had crowded tables, and the backroom was candlit with red table clothes and a wooden ceiling with soft art on the walls. It was ridiculously romantic. Very Lady and the Tramp, as we discussed. It was so great to share plates of Italian food (although they weren't making pizza), and great conversation with Kira and Jenny. I've known Kira since forever, and her family and mine have been friends since longer than forever. She's a really warmhearted and hilarious individual who I think I could describe adequately with the word Jolly. To know her is to laugh with her. She is currently travelling with Jenny, a wonderful lady from Edmonton, to Cortona, where they will be studying for two months. We will definately be getting together again. Mostly in order to make Coffee Cake, a specialty of her mother's that I miss muchly.

Anyways, after I had a quick waltz with a drunk waiter, we decided to head back to the hostel of the two girl's, since it was pouring like a river from the sky right onto the street. Seriously, the water was rushing past our feet and I was fully expecting fish and seaweed to go flopping by. Jenny didn't have an umbrella and ours weren't doing us much help, so by the time we got to the Yellow Hostel, we were ready for the warm bar, and Jenny was ready for new clothes.

It was about 10, and we figured we would head out to a point for fireworks at midnight. We had a nice mix of beers, Breezers and hot chocolates floating on our table.

As I headed up to the bar for another drink, I ended up in a conversation about Sweet Thai Pussy with two Australians.

Don't tell me that's not the craziest sentence you've ever read.

Turns out Sweet Thai Pussy is a cocktail of sorts that these two had been drinking all night. I had to try one. It was delicious, but quite sweet. If you're a fan of these types of drinks, I have a mission for you: Ask for one without laughing.

Anyways, we all ended up talking at their table-for-two, with Andrew, a guy from Florida, who just moved to Rome for work for 3 months. More English! It was really interesting to hear the difference between the accent of Kira and the accent of Andrew. And of course the Australians. Which were pretty slurred by now. There was a Christmas tree set up in the bar, and they had given out papers for the month of December where people wrote what they wanted for Christmas from Santa, and placed them on the tree as decorations. Most of the wishes were rather inappropriate and hilarious. There were also a lot for World Peace. I think my favourite one was, "Dear Santa, please make all my dreams come true. And also Dave's. Merry Chistmas."

That's friendship.

We were having a great time, when all of a sudden the very classy English bartender said, "It's midnight!" And he handed out champagne, and we all cheersed to a Happy New Year! It was so great the ring in the New Year with laughter and old friends and new ones. This is how I hope my whole year will be. That's what they say, right?

Us at the tiny table! (Kira, Andrea, Aussies, me, Jenny)

Andrew and the Aussie fellow

Kira!

Jenny

Me and my bottle of red

Me and the Aussie fellow

We were all supposed to be serious. Instead I look crazy.

We hung around for an hour more, and I had a great chat with two American fellows who were on a break from doing some sort of missions work in Africa. Then, the bartenders told us to head on out. But before we left, the Australian lady, who I will now refer to as Janice, because I know is started with a J, decided to clean the bar out of its white wine supply. I modestly got one bottle of red, as she headed down the street with three bottles in hand, refusing the help of anyone willing. Turns out they weren't at the hostel, they were at the hotel across the street. They invited us up and as we quietly snuck through the Entrance Hall, with a wonderful carpet, sky high ceilings with a chandelier, and all the class that a Roman Hotel can offer, she let one slip and a whole bottle of white was smashed across the floor. Seemed to her that this wasn't a problem and we just kept on going. Va bene. (This means, "Well, ok." Literal translation is "It goes well", but we say this all the time. I'd be surprised if I hadn't told you this before, which I probably have, so sorry for the repetition. But anyways, all was well, and we headed up to the room.)

Once there, Janice recieved a phone call from the front desk, and all we could hear was, "No, no, just me and my mate. Nope, just me and my mate. No, no other people, must me and my mate." For about five minutes. We all got a kick out of it, and when she got off the phone she said, "He told us just to keep it down."

So, after ruining the Entrance Hall, breaking curfew, allowing unallowed visitors and lying to the consierge, Janice realized she needed a cork screw. She very bravely decided to put on her sweetest smile and head down to the front desk. We all held our breath, and laughed, in anticipation of what would happen and if we would ever see her again. But, this is the magic of the New Year, and she magestically came back bearing a cork screw and a grin, slurringly saying, "He friggin' loves me." (Speaking of the front desk man.) We don't know what happened down there, but we were just happy to get that wine open.

After an hour or so that included much rambling, me getting locked in the bathroom, and I'm assuming other funny things I cannot remember, Janice politely screamed from the bathroom to her mate, "Get everyone out!" so we cordially left the hotel, minding the glass on the way out.

I would leave this out, but I know Kira will be reading this, and will say, "Hey Carrie, remember when YOU droppped a bottle of wine?"

So, I had my red, which no one else wanted, and therefore decided against the excess baggage of a glass, and I was drinking tenderly as Kira, Jenny, Andrew and I chatted on the street about things you chat about on the street on New Years. I was making a wild hand gesture while making a very important political statement, (I'm sure of it) and lo and behold, my bottle, with about a gulp left, hit the Roman roads to forever slow into the gutters. It was probably for the best. Maybe if I had finished it, I wouldn't have had enough wits about me to let Jenny remind me that the Metros only run for twenty more minutes. (See how I did that?)

Kira, Jenny, Andrew. Three beautiful grins!

Anyways, Kira, Jenny and I made plans to meet at 11 at the Termini for a day walking through Rome together and I got Andrews email so I could send pictures from the night.

Kira walked me to the Termini, and I ran for the last Metro. Perfect timing.

My station

The way I was seeing it...

My hostel bed was clean and warm and I caught some shut eye. You know how great you feel when you're in bed after a cold walk and a stomach full of beer? That's not how I felt when I woke up. I also woke up on top of a notebook, a bag of cookies, and my umbrella bag, still wearing my little black dress with a sweater shoved overtop.

It would have been worse. After some of said cookies from Grandma and Lisa, I felt good enough to get one some real clothes, pack my purse, and meet Kira and Jenny, but not before a cup of tea at the station.

We had a great, relaxing New Years Day together, wandering through Rome, seeing a lots of sites. I had seen some of them before, and some of them were new, but all of them were new to Kira and Jenny, so it was exciting to experience that with them! We made an early plan to see the Trevi Fountain, and just saw what we saw along the way. Meandering is my favourite form of sightseeing. I had originally planned to go check out the Vatican this day, but Jenny, who is surprisingly handy to have around, found out everything was closed there. We walked for about 4 hours, give or take, and this is what we saw:

Guy in a Lamborghini jacket. Think he has one? I don't.

Selvio Spaventa. He did some cool things, you've all heard of him...

A cool driveway. There was a wind picking up, and some leaves were blowing around, but I don't think I got them. Although, the driveway is still very stunning.

Playing with my camera at some of the ruins. I particularly like that there are highrises right behind the ruins. Also a mix of old and new in Rome, as Mom said.

We ended up in a great square, with really wonderful buildings...

lamps...

wildabeasts...

champagne bottles from the night before...

and of course a church. These suckers are EVERYWHERE.

This one was in the middle of a shopping district.

 We figured this was a theatre or museum of some kind. I really quite liked it.

More ads placed on scaffolding made to resemble said buildings. I'm used to this now. I mean, in Urbino it's just orange, but in the big cities, they class everything up.

One of the pillars from the stairs leading to it

Uh, the stairs leading to it.

Umbrella vendors! These guys are everywhere. Almost as many umbrella vendors as there are churches.

Some of the ruins. I have pictures of these from before, however, I never came to this side before. You really see something new everytime you go to one of these places.

I should really know what this is by now.

Dome

Dome

What Kira and I discussed as a Charlie Brown Christmas tree, right there in the main square of Rome. When I saw it at 4 in the morning it had some cool lights. Oh yea, read on to hear about my night.

More of the place I should know by now. There was a wreath being protected by two military gentlemen, but we couldn't figure out what it was for.

An exhibit at one of the museums

Get it? I'm the black one and Kira is the yellow one! Jenny would have been the white one, but then we'd have no camerwoman, and therefore would just be standing there looking awesome, with no photo.

Another amazing building

Trevi! My old friend.

The blue water

The fountain and the people...

Oh, the people!

Il Messagero! A pretty epic looking Newspaper HQ, if I do say so myself.

Fountain of Triton! Or Neptune? I think Triton.

A tad closer

Pretty much THE plainest looking Russion Orthodox Church I have ever, or will ever, see.

Best Western Canada! In Roma! How cool is that?

After this, we hung out at their hostel for a while to dry out and warm up, and Jenny skyped her parents and Kira and I discussed our plans for our next meetings. Then, being tired and ready for bed again, I said goodbye to my wonderful Canadian friends, hugging Kira about 10 times too many, and met the Metro for a ride straight to my bed.

I woke up around 8, and wrote for some time in the common room of Youth Station Hostel. One of my bunkmates came to see what I was doing, and we ended up talking. He is Italian, and speaks pretty much no English, but he tried to decipher what I was writing in my journal. I made sure to didn't get to the part that said, "There's these cute Italian boys in my hostel," but I'm quite sure he would not have understood. Eventually, all of his friends, including two more guys and two girls, ended up at the table. We talked and I made tea and a Spanish man gave us some pizza he wasn't able to finish. Around 10:30, as they like to do, they decided to head out for dinner and drinks. They asked me along, and I said sure! I was pretty prepared with my afternoon nap. We hopped a bus to where I think was Piazza Venezia. They were so much fun! I found out they were my age. As in born in 1989, not just around my age. I hadn't realized it until then, but I haven't hung out with 20 year olds since I left Canada. And this was my 20 year old night:

First, drinks at this very neat looking bar:

The Bartender. She was pretty badass and looked a bit like Amy Winehouse, but more sober.

The patio. They have these huge flames to keep people warm, and it's enough. It was chilly, but not cold.

A keg I found while waiting for the bathroom! How perfect for my 20 year old night!

Second, looking for dinner. Most places were closing down, so we ended up at a panini joint. But not just any panini joint. Fresh roasted pork, (the whole pig; it was great) fresh veggies and fresh bread. I had a great one with pork, brie and broccoli wiht mayo. I haven't had mayo, either, in a long time, so that was awesome. You forget how much you love some things until you have them again.

Third, more drink at the neat looking place. They have this thing, where you do one shot of Rum, and a second shot of fruit juice. These folk were pretty big one it. Well, actually, just Gianluca, the first guy I talked to in the hostel. And me, because he kept buying them for me. Like I said, it's pretty rare so find a really drunk person in Italy, but you can always find people with drinks. Gainluca was this rare exception. All of his friends had a few drinks, but nothing excessive. I distinctly remember him saying, "Sai, ho finito otto. Tu, solo quatro." (You know, I've finished 8. You've only had 4.) I would say, that is true, but I can see straight and you can't.

 The shooter of the night:

Chicca and G.

Dalla and G.

The square after drinks

This is hilarious. It says, "Pizza, wine and Birre." I still don't know why beers in the only word not in English.

Dalla, Me, Gianluca

Fourthly, Chicca's bag was stolen. This was awful. She thought she left it in the bar, but they wouldn't let her in to check because they were closing. People can be sketchy. We retraced some steps but didn't find it. She was totally devistated, because not only did it have all of her money and cellphone and irreplaceable things like a favourite wallet and who knows what else, it also had some of her friends things and she felt so awful that she cried, just as it started to rain a bit harder. I felt a little out of place, because it's times like these that really brings friends together or apart, and I didn't totally understand who was mad or who was comforting who, because I've only known these people for a few hours. They've known each other for the better half of their lives, as I found out later. I also needed a bathroom, so Gianluca and I took off to find one, and by the time we did, the others had found us there, and all were mostly calm. It's one of those things that just sucks, but there is nothing you can do after you've tried everything.

So, fifthly, we realised in was three in the morning and ther was no possible way besides an expensive cab to get back to the hostel. But, I was in Rome. It was raining but it was warm. So we decided to wait until the buses started up again at 4:30. We joyfully walked the streets, and we were in the vicinity of many big sites, which was really cool to see at night. As we were walking, I saw a huge church, and suddenly stopped in my tracks, jaw dropped. It was the church I had met the German boy at when I was in Rome the first time! Suddenly everything from my first trip came flooding into my head, and I was there again, in summer time, my first time in Europe, seeing everything for the first time. I finally snapped out of it, and they were all staring at me like I was crazy, so I tried to explain myself, and I think it came across. They had a laugh about it anyways.

The Church with the 5 o'clock silver Jesus

Dalla, Loris, G., Chicca

Looking for Italian shoes?

Gianluca and Loris discussing something of extreme importance. As always.

Dalla taking a look at his new pin! I had it on my jacket, and I said "Yea, I've got a hundred of these things" (Thank you town of Grimshaw!) and he asked if he could have one. And I was like, "No, sorry, they are all at my house!" Ha, then he politely reminded me that I could maybe give him that one. But of course!

Grouo hug!

Gianluca and I.

We ended up sitting on the church steps, laughing and joking for some time, taking pictures and Gainluca saying, "So, you'll host me in your house in Canada? And I can host you in Piena!" Yes! Of course, Gainluca. Then, about 3 minutes later, "So, you'll come to Piena? Can I come to Canada sometime?" Yes, of course, Gianluca. He was hilarious at this point, but I took to talking to Loris, the tall, long haired one. He plays guitar. He also lives near or in Piena. Also, there was Dalla, the curly haired boy, who is dating the girl with braided hair, whose name I can neither remember or read in my notebook. Also, Chicca (pronounced keeka). They were all really fun, and I had the best time! They were fun to speak Italian with, and the braided haired girl had lived in LA and also London for two months each. We spoke some English, but she was very shy with it, and it had been 2 years. I understood her just fine, and then Dalla started speaking in English, and we had a competition throughout the night about whose was better. It was hilarious. But, for the most part, it was Italian, and I was glad to be taking part in a crazy night among Italians and in Italian. Still, I don't understand everything, but I had a bloated sense of pride when the night was over. Which happened around 4:30. We finally got on a bus, when they started running, which took us to another stop, where we waited a half hour for another bus to come by, which took us to the hostel, that it turns out we could have walked to from the second stop, but all means, in a half hour. The bus was warm, however, and the wait was fun.

 Waiting for the bus at the place I should know by now.

On the bus! Check this out:

Who's that?

Oh! That's who!

The bus door closing another chapter in Rome.

By the time we got to the hostel, it was about quarter to 6. I had initially planned on catching a train at 6:15 to Pisa, and I still fully planned on doing so, however, turns out the metro doesn't start until 6, which wouldn't give me enough time to get to the Termini, get my ticket, and get on the train.

I was not complaining. There was another in four hours, at 10:15, so I said goodnight and goodbye to my new friends, and slept for a couple hours before packing, making a cup of tea, eating some breakfast, and heading to the station. I still had to run for my train, but I was safely headed to Pisa on another 4hour train, but no train switch, so I had a little bit of shuteye. However, the train goes right along the coast, so I had a hard time keeping my eyes shut, since all I could do was watch the ocean and the houses and the sunshine.

However, I think this is enough pictures for one post. I will see if my computer explodes trying to post it.

I hope you all had a wonderful switch from 2009 to 2010, and may it be a wonderful, joyful year for you! I would love to hear about it. Send me a message or post here how your night was and what your plans are for this year! See you at the halfway point!